


Something About Fate

by superiorsahyo



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: 2YEON - Freeform, F/F, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:20:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25438330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superiorsahyo/pseuds/superiorsahyo
Summary: "By themselves, their personalities needed some work. Together, just like two poisonous roots that were somehow a cure for a deadly disease when combined, they were the perfect balance for each other."
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon
Comments: 15
Kudos: 110





	Something About Fate

Nayeon never believed in fate.

But… there had to be a _reason_ as to why she had seen this same woman three times in her life, all in a massive city with a population of nine million people, and all throughout different time periods in their lives. Coincidences didn’t happen in places like Seoul. She knew that.

“You’re Yoo Jeongyeon, right?”

There had been times since she had posed the question in which she wondered if it had been a mistake or not. What would have happened if she would have recognized the black-haired woman and simply continued walking through the busy street market? Maybe they would have never seen each other again. Maybe the _reason_ they had seen each other to begin with would have forced them back together.

When she asked the question, she didn’t know Jeongyeon but Jeongyeon had years of predetermined opinions about who Nayeon was built up as sturdy as a brick wall in her mind- or so Jeongyeon thought. She was proven wrong when less than four hours after the question was asked, she was bidding Nayeon goodbye after loading her into a taxi, sporting an absolutely blissful smile as she waved the vehicle off.

Apparently, her sturdy brick wall was secretly made of straw, because all Nayeon had to do to blow the wall down was smile in her direction.

No, no, no. This couldn’t be the girl that had tried to fight her during a joint field trip to an apple orchard with their school’s kindergarten and first grade classes. That had not been the girl who had poked her tongue out Jeongyeon throughout their shared silent lunch in the middle of a hot field. That had not been the girl that Jeongyeon didn’t see again for fourteen years until they shared glances at a Christmas party during their college years. That had _definitely_ not been the girl that Jeongyeon had approached and introduced herself to and explained how they knew each other only for Nayeon to pretend to have no idea who Jeongyeon was in front of a group of her friends.

That had _not_ been Nayeon because Jeongyeon _hated_ Nayeon. Whoever that was? Jeongyeon liked her. Jeongyeon liked her a lot.

After bidding each other goodbye, it took Nayeon one hour to text Jeongyeon and ask to see her again, twelve hours for her to actually see her again, two weeks for them to establish that they were going on dates (not establish that they were dating), one month for them to have their first large argument, and over two months for Nayeon to finally kiss Jeongyeon.

Jeongyeon had hated Nayeon because she was arrogant. In elementary school and college, Nayeon had acted the same. As they had gotten to know each other, Jeongyeon quickly learned the reasoning behind this and also learned that Nayeon, under the surface, had never really changed but she was okay with that.

Just like Jeongyeon, Nayeon’s parents were in the middle of a divorce at the time of the apple orchard incident. Unlike Jeongyeon, Nayeon was forced to move to Busan with her father who took everything from her mother in the divorce. Nayeon’s father, although Jeongyeon hated to think it, never _really_ loved Nayeon. He bought his title as a father rather than earned it. By the time Nayeon was old enough to decide that she would rather have a decent parent by her side during a hard life than a shitty parent by her side during a still-difficult life, her mother had died.

Jeongyeon believed that Nayeon had it harder than she ever did. After all, both of her parents were still alive. They had both experienced hardships but almost in completely opposite ways. While Nayeon was being taken out for shopping sprees once a week, Jeongyeon wore the same five outfits for over one year and slept on her neighbor’s floor after her mother was late on rent and they were evicted from their apartment.

Because they grew up on opposite sides of the spectrum, they ended up on different sides of the spectrum. It made sense.

Jeongyeon lived in an apartment in Gangnam that was far too large for one person. She owned a Mercedes-Benz that she rarely ever drove. Her wardrobe was worth as much as her degree had been.

Nayeon lived in a shoebox in Nowon. She didn’t have a car. Her wardrobe was filled with off-brand hand-me-downs that she had bought at thrift stores.

Jeongyeon’s lifestyle was so… familiar to Nayeon that it nearly nauseated her in the beginning. The first time Nayeon had seen Jeongyeon’s car, she gave Jeongyeon the silent treatment for an entire day. The first time she had seen Jeongyeon’s apartment, she wore an uncomfortable grin the entire afternoon.

The younger woman had grown into someone who was confident and secure- two things she had never been before. Nayeon’s- as Jeongyeon referred to it- _bullshit_ never went extremely far. Each time Nayeon would act out towards Jeongyeon, Jeongyeon was able to give Nayeon a look that reeled the arrogant attitude right back in.

It took Nayeon some getting used to; being around someone who lived like her father but was nothing like him.

“I- I think we should stop seeing each other,” Nayeon had said as the introduction of their largest argument to date.

She was standing in Jeongyeon’s modern kitchen, watching the woman’s back as she washed dishes from the dinner that she had slaved over for two-hours. Jeongyeon had been annoyed throughout the evening, Nayeon knew and, for some sick and twisted reason, used to her advantage. She had made Jeongyeon cook for her and was now making her clean up the mess and allowing some _bullshit_ to bubble to the surface in the worst way.

With her back turned to Nayeon, Jeongyeon released a loud sigh.

“Why,” she asked with an obligatory tone and not a hint of interest, hands still washing the dishes as if a bomb hadn’t been dropped in her kitchen.

When things like this happened, Nayeon believed in fate, but only in small bursts. If Jeongyeon didn’t understand where these mood swings and outbursts came from, they would have never made it through their first week of being reunited. If Jeongyeon hadn’t grown up in unfortunate circumstances and hadn’t been determined to surround herself with _fortunate_ circumstances, she wouldn’t understand why fortunate circumstances made Nayeon uncomfortable. All of this- everything that they had been through- happened for a reason, right? So that they could make it through things like this with _each other_ … right?

Nayeon paused, gripping the kitchen counter until her knuckles went pale. She had one destination in mind and spilled words that would get her to the destination as quickly as possible.

“Because,” her words were low, barely audible above the running water and Jeongyeon’s scrubbing against ceramics, “we don’t have anything in common… We’re going to burn out soon… It’s not like this could ever amount to anything anyways. We can’t get married. Even if we could, we wouldn’t be happy. What would we do? Sit on the couch and plan our meals for the rest of our lives? That’s all we do now.”

Weeks prior to this conversation, Jeongyeon had bluntly notified Nayeon that she would not be making the first move. It seemed as if Nayeon’s interest in Jeongyeon was shaky and Jeongyeon had no interest in kissing someone who didn’t want to kiss her. Because of that declaration and Nayeon’s apprehensiveness towards pushing things further with Jeongyeon, they had been on eight dates, spent the night at each other’s apartments, and stayed up talking until the sun had risen on multiple occasions but never had they ever kissed.

Jeongyeon could have brought up those dates or the random car rides they took after stressful days at work or the conversation they had that one night about what they believed happened after people died that had gotten so scary that Nayeon had cried. She could have pointed out that they had that conversation on the same night that they _somehow_ had an in-depth conversation about their favorite type of shower curtain.

As if they would _ever_ run out of things to talk about.

Jeongyeon dropped a plate into the sink softly, turned off the running water, and rotated so that she could face Nayeon. With her hands dripping water and suds onto the tile floor, she relaxed her backside against the edge of the granite countertop.

“Do you always think about marriage to someone that you have nothing in common with and won’t kiss,” she asked with the tiniest bit of an entertained smirk.

Nayeon feared how easily Jeongyeon could see through her.

According to Jeongyeon, Nayeon also feared how secure Jeongyeon was within herself. Jeongyeon wanted Nayeon, but she didn’t need her. Jeongyeon had explained that the quality probably reminded her of her father that she hadn’t spoken to in years.

The woman had always been brutally honest with Nayeon, confessing that, if need be, she would absolutely leave Nayeon in the dust for her own well-being.

“You focus on unimportant things. You own a car that you almost never drive in a city filled to the brim with taxis, subways, and buses. Your apartment is way too big and you _love_ it. I don’t want to be with somebody that’s like that.”

Jeongyeon’s shoulders deflated while Nayeon’s figure shrunk due to self-induced annoyance, frustration, and embarrassment.

“Well, I’m not selling my car or moving into a smaller apartment. You need to get used to the fact that I actually like you more than I like any of this stuff,” she waved her arm. “I’m not your dad. I’m not going to just… throw you away for no reason… You’re not used to that… Now, I’ll be done in a few minutes and we can sit on the couch and not talk since we don’t have anything to talk about, okay?”

Jeongyeon turned back around and reached for the faucet but her movements were halted by Nayeon’s words.

“Jeongyeon, I’m serious. I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to.”

And she turned again and stared blankly, “you’re serious?”

“I’m serious,” Nayeon said.

The black-haired woman wiped her damp hands on her jeans and walked towards her pocketbook that was sitting on the edge of her kitchen’s island.

On top of the off day they were having, Nayeon had forgotten her purse and cell phone in her office at work and the school’s campus building wouldn’t open again until Monday. With her head hanging, she only got a slight glimpse of Jeongyeon laying two bills onto her clean counter.

“That should cover the cab home and to work on Monday. You can let yourself out.”

Yes, _that_ was their biggest argument to date.

Some people just worked perfectly together. Nayeon had deeply rooted issues that didn’t seem like they were being resolved anytime soon. Jeongyeon was so patient that it could be considered problematically passive. Nayeon liked to push Jeongyeon’s boundaries. Jeongyeon was secure in herself, so having her boundaries pushed never affected her like anyone would have expected. Nayeon needed to be reminded when she was overstepping her limits. Jeongyeon was a leader.

By themselves, their personalities needed some work. Together, just like two poisonous roots that were somehow a cure for a deadly disease when combined, they were the perfect balance for each other.

When Jeongyeon let Nayeon leave, she was hurt. There was always the question of if Nayeon would return or not. But Jeongyeon had to trust the universe- whatever _that_ meant. If she had not been meant to know Nayeon, she wouldn’t have fought with her at the apple orchard or been humiliated by her at the party or ran into her at the market. She trusted that Nayeon felt the same way.

Three weeks after the ‘argument,’ Nayeon appeared by Jeongyeon’s bedside in the middle of the night and nudged the woman awake softly, whispering her name repeatedly and squeezing her forearm. There had been no call or text or warning and yet, Jeongyeon simply blinked her eyes open tiredly and scooted further into the bed at Nayeon’s request despite the entire king-sized bed being unoccupied behind her.

Nayeon slipped her shoes off and crawled under the grey silk sheets that even looked expensive. She tucked herself against the front of Jeongyeon’s body and felt the other woman’s face nudge into the back of her neck. One arm laid over her waist and pulled her impossibly closer. Jeongyeon released a content and tired sigh.

After a moment of being settled in together, Jeongyeon muttered, “change your mind?”

Nayeon hummed quietly, “I always do, don’t I?”

“Yeah,” Jeongyeon admitted. “It’s okay. If we end up like this, I don’t mind.”

The small reassurance was all Nayeon needed to hear and somehow, Jeongyeon knew that. The older woman felt herself deflate, body like jelly against Jeongyeon’s. As she laid on her side, staring out of the large window at the insomniac district of Gangnam, she felt… settled.

The next morning was their first time getting ready for work and commuting to Gangdong together. It was a calm and quiet thing, both moving around each other with the weight of exhaustion slowing them down. Nayeon borrowed an outfit and had to swallow down how foreign but uncomfortably familiar the clothes felt.

“Let’s go out tomorrow,” Jeongyeon said the following Friday, entering her bedroom with her hair in a towel and white robe around her body.

Nayeon laid back on Jeongyeon’s bed while holding some book above her face, dressed from head to toe in sweats that she had pulled out of the closet in the corner of the room. She lowered the book down to her chest and looked over at the woman as she stood in front of the illuminated entry to the connected bathroom.

Because the bedroom was dim, the light behind Jeongyeon emphasized her greatly, having the effect of a spotlight.

Nayeon grinned at the sight, “you look famous.”

“Want me to dance for you,” she asked quickly before lifting her arms out to their full width. She moved them in a wave motion from each side, poking her tongue out from between her teeth as she did so and imitating complete focus.

The older woman’s smile grew and she let go of the edges of the book and clapped her hands together, “how are you not an idol? How many dance lessons did you have to do to get that good?”

Jeongyeon pretended to wipe sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, “I was a trainee but left because they just couldn’t appreciate my talent like you do. Kept pushing back my debut.”

Nayeon chuckled quietly as Jeongyeon reached blindly behind her to turn off the bathroom light. With a grin, she sauntered into the large closet and disappeared inside. Nayeon raised her book back above her head and tried to wipe the blissful smile from her lips. She found it difficult to focus on anything other than Jeongyeon when the other woman made her heart flutter like this.

Within thirty seconds, she had reread the same sentence a handful of times and dropped her book back to her chest with a quiet huff, “let’s go out _where_ tomorrow?”

“Uh,” Jeongyeon began from the closet, speaking loudly enough to make up for the distance between them. “The apple orchard.”

Nayeon couldn’t help but to laugh at the suggestion, “you’re joking.”

A moment later, Jeongyeon walked back out with a childlike smile, seemingly proud of herself for coming up with the idea, and shook her head, “no. We can get dinner afterwards and I’ll take you home.”

Nayeon’s eyes followed Jeongyeon as she rounded the bed, grey silk pajamas shimmering with the glare of the bedside lamp on Nayeon’s side. Her damp black hair fell down onto her shoulders messily.

“So, it’s really just your ploy to get me to go back home,” Nayeon teased, raising an eyebrow.

Given the size of the bed, they could have laid with over a foot of space between them. Still, Jeongyeon slid into the bed until her shoulder was pressed against Nayeon’s. She reached over and pulled the book off of the woman’s chest, peaking up through her eyelashes.

“You see right through me.”

“I do,” Nayeon said, unknowingly staring over at Jeongyeon was an admiring glint in her eye. Her gaze watched every movement of Jeongyeon’s side profile as she lifted the book above her face.

“Ritchie screamed out for his mother once again, desperate voice piercing through the air-”

“No! Stop,” Nayeon exclaimed, yanking the novel out of Jeongyeon’s hands in a quick moment. “I’m not there yet. I think his mom just died in the hurricane.”

Jeongyeon’s face scrunched up in distaste while Nayeon doggy-eared the page and blindly laid it back on the nightstand on her other side, “what the hell are you reading?”

“It’s a good book,” the older woman responded dismissively and pointed to the view of the darkened city through the window. “That’s so pretty.”

Jeongyeon lifted her head from the pillow to get a glimpse of the view. She hummed and shuffled to lay on her side, propping her head up on the heel of her hand. Her other hand absentmindedly nudged Nayeon’s, their fingers working together to intertwine on the outside surface of the blanket.

“You’re welcome,” Jeongyeon said.

Nayeon’s eyes tore from the view and she craned her neck to look up at Jeongyeon, eyebrows raised, “for what?”

Jeongyeon shrugged dismissively, “oh, you know… Just being silent while you steal my side of the bed.”

The brunette scoffed and rolled her eyes, turning back to the view, “please. It’s your apartment so you sleep closest to the door. That’s how that works.”

“It’s my apartment so I get to choose to sleep next to the view.”

“But _I_ like the view,” Nayeon said.

She heard Jeongyeon suck in a sharp breath, “ _oh_ , okay… Why didn’t you just say so?”

“Shut up,” Nayeon spoke through a growing grin.

Before noon the next day, they had driven an hour and were standing in a row of apple trees, employees and parents and children creating noise around them. Jeongyeon was standing with her weight on one leg and her hip jutted out to the side, squinted eyes analyzing the tree in front of her and Nayeon.

“This isn’t it either.”

Considering that Nayeon had shoved her into the ground at this apple orchard nearly twenty-five years ago and every single apple tree looked the same, it was difficult to recognize the exact apple tree.

“Who cares,” Jeongyeon turned her entire body towards Nayeon, making the woman glance at her questioningly. “Push me.”

Nayeon grinned and her eyes fell closed, shaking her head, “no.”

Jeongyeon was a pain in the ass in first grade and had picked an apple from a low hanging branch as her class and the first-grade class had walked through a row of trees. Behind her, Nayeon saw the action and was quick to scold Jeongyeon, so Jeongyeon picked the next apple she could reach. Nayeon scolded her again. Jeongyeon picked another apple. Nayeon pushed her down. Jeongyeon stood up and pushed Nayeon back.

They faced each other now, all grown up with completely different feelings towards one another. Nayeon’s eyes raked up Jeongyeon’s body and she punctuated the action by giving the woman a blank stare.

“Come on,” Jeongyeon encouraged and wiggled one leg. “I wore my worst pair of jeans so I could get mud on them.”

Jeongyeon was only joking, of course. She had no intention of recreating the scene or being pushed down. The dark grey skinny jeans she was wearing were _definitely_ not her worst pair, either.

“I’m not pushing you,” Nayeon whined, glancing around at the few people nearby.

For some reason that Nayeon had yet to figure out, moments like these were the ones that made her like Jeongyeon the most. Just like the previous night, when Jeongyeon was being immature and silly and childlike, Nayeon wanted to stare at her forever. People their age were such drags and pessimists. Jeongyeon was a breath of fresh air for everyone. Nayeon just got special treatment.

“Do I need to pick an apple,” Jeongyeon raised a challenging brow, her hand extending into the tree branches that were weighed down with fruit.

Nayeon quickly wrapped her hand around Jeongyeon’s wrist and pulled it down between them, “no.” With Jeongyeon’s wrist still in her grip, she twisted her body so that her back was against Jeongyeon’s front, “no picking the apples. No pushing.”

She felt Jeongyeon breathe out a giggle into her hair, “okay.”

They stood for a calm moment, ignoring the strange stares they received in response to their affection. Both of Jeongyeon’s arms wrapped around Nayeon’s waist and they swayed. Jeongyeon felt her heartbeat in her throat and her eyes blink closed slowly, the effects of the woman against her making themselves known shamelessly.

“You know,” Nayeon spoke later that evening, holding a milkshake in one hand and laying her other over her stomach, “when you think about it… we’re kind of like a sugar-mommy-sugar-baby kind of duo. You buy me food- sometimes too much of it like today- and drive me around and pay for my commute and let me wear your expensive clothes and in return, you get to look at my pretty face and have a pretty girl in your bed upon request.”

For Nayeon, this had been her favorite day with Jeongyeon to date. Somehow, running around an apple orchard for hours on a spring day with perfect weather was so much better than going to the movies or walking around the city aimlessly. It was different, relaxed, and just… nice. Jeongyeon’s carefree attitude was contagious. Maybe there was something in the air. Nayeon was happy and less focused on the things that usually bothered her.

Jeongyeon laughed as she turned her car into the parking lot attached to Nayeon’s ratty apartment complex, “this is a lousy arrangement, then.”

Nayeon feigned hurt and turned to the black-haired woman with a gasp, lifting her hand from her stomach and bringing it up to her chest, “what is that supposed to mean?!”

With a grin, Jeongyeon pulled into a parking space close to the front of the medium-sized building. She ignored Nayeon’s stare and shifted into park, allowing the car to idle as she unclasped her seatbelt and turned slightly in Nayeon’s direction. She leaned onto the center console with one elbow and brought their faces within inches of each other.

Her lips continued to stay turned upwards. Nayeon was staring blankly, almost nervously. Jeongyeon’s eyes searched Nayeon’s face before she shrugged casually.

“I feel like if I had a sugar baby and ‘ _requested her to be in my bed_ ,’ she’d do more than just read books, no? Wouldn’t she at least kiss me when I wanted her to?”

Jeongyeon didn’t look nearly as nervous as she was. She felt as if she were sixteen again, trying to seduce some person she had been attracted to. The air around them had become stagnant, unmoving and thick. While keeping her eyes on Nayeon’s, she could barely see the way the woman’s chest was rising and falling shallowly.

“That’s not fair,” Nayeon muttered, wrapping both of her hands around her milkshake cup. “I don’t know when you want me to kiss you.”

Jeongyeon’s grin disappeared and she rolled her eyes dramatically, looking back at Nayeon with an exaggerated unimpressed expression, “don’t lie. You know for a fact that I want you to kiss me all the time.”

“I don’t,” she argued slowly, feeling as if she were being coaxed into a trance and knowingly falling directly into Jeongyeon’s trap.

Jeongyeon hummed and shrugged carelessly, continuing her banter that was driving Nayeon up an invisible wall in her mind, “well, you do now so that’s no excuse.”

But something in Nayeon was off. It was a kiss. She was positive that she had read somewhere that nearly half of all humans kiss on the first date, yet there were alarms going off in her head that were equivalent to nuclear bomb warnings. The high pitch siren sent shivers up her spine and told her to _run!_ and yet, she felt more safe around Jeongyeon than she ever had with anyone else in the entire world. _How the fuck did that work_ , she asked herself.

It had been two months (two months!) and she had yet to muster up the courage to kiss Jeongyeon. Had she seen her naked? Yes. Did they hold hands? Yes. They cuddled for at least ten hours this past week, right? Yes. So why, why, why did this freak her out so badly?

“I’m just scared,” she responded honestly, voice nearly at a whisper. She thought she might cry but hoped to God that it was just a fluke. What thirty-one-year-old cries over kissing someone that they like as much as she liked Jeongyeon?

In an instant, Jeongyeon dropped her front and became serious, almost feeling bad for pushing things the way that she had. She relaxed her elbow off of the center console and put space between them, feeling her own stomach turn the same way she imagined Nayeon’s might have been. Nayeon _looked_ scared. She wasn’t sure of how to fix it.

“Scared of what,” Jeongyeon’s voice was layered with care and genuineness. Her head turned to the side and she itched to reach out to Nayeon but was unsure of every potential action, feeling as if she made one wrong move, everything could be over in an instant.

Just because she would be okay if Nayeon disappeared from her life didn’t mean that she would enjoy it or ever want it.

Nayeon visibly closed in on herself, her shoulders angling in and her head hanging slightly as she sat back against the car’s leather seat, “I don’t know.”

She watched as Jeongyeon slowly reached over and peeled her hand from around the milkshake cup. She allowed the woman to hold her hand in between their seats, feeling almost pathetic for putting them in their current situation.

Jeongyeon brought in a quiet breath, “it’s okay, Nayeon. I didn’t mean to joke so much-”

“No, it’s not your fault.”

“But it’s not yours either. You know that, right,” she asked seriously but didn’t expect a response. “I don’t have a problem with you reading books in my bed. Honestly, I like it a lot. You’re nice to just… be around. I missed you a lot when you were gone.”

There was a beat of silence while Nayeon stored the paragraph into her brain, tucking it into her mental folder labelled, ‘JEONGYEON: IMPORTANT!’

Jeongyeon ran her thumb across the back of Nayeon’s hand, “do you want me to leave?”

“No,” Nayeon responded without very much thought, shaking her head. “Let’s go watch a movie or something.”

And again, Jeongyeon somehow dealt with everything perfectly. She worked _with_ Nayeon- never around her. She included Nayeon in every thought _without_ thought. She did it so effortlessly. Nayeon was convinced that it was magic (maybe fate). Every piece of their lives had shaped them into who they were and made them so that they would fit perfectly together. If anything had ever been off in the past thirty or thirty-one years of their lives, this would be different. So, yes. On days like this, Nayeon believed in magic (maybe fate).

But on this day specifically, Nayeon believed that she loved Jeongyeon. She believed it like people believe in God.

Jeongyeon talked Nayeon’s ear off until midnight. They laid in Nayeon’s full-sized bed with Jeongyeon laying on her side, her arm extended out and Nayeon’s head laying on it. Her other hand rested on the woman’s ribcage under the blanket, a normal occurrence between them. Nayeon laid on her back with her head turned to the side.

Nayeon was absolute mush. Her brain was fried. There were no thoughts in her mind. Her body was numb. She was hearing Jeongyeon’s voice but only as one continuous string of sounds, not as words. Her voice. She was watching Jeongyeon’s mouth move, each smile or shape of her lips as she formed a word making Nayeon wish that she could watch this like her favorite movie for the rest of her life. Her mouth. She was noticing the deep brown color of Jeongyeon’s eyes, the way she could barely see her black pupil when the light from her lamp hit perfectly, and the creases that would form at the corners when she would make herself laugh. Her eyes. Her nose. Her hands. Her hair. Her skin. Her. Her. Her.

Eventually, Nayeon fell asleep to the continuous string of sounds coming from Jeongyeon’s lips. Jeongyeon grinned when Nayeon did and itched to pull her tingling arm out from under the woman’s head but refused. The lamp was bright as it shined from behind Nayeon but she couldn’t bring herself to try and reach it, the risk of waking Nayeon up too big. Instead, she retracted her hand from Nayeon’s stomach and pulled the excess blankets over her face.

After that day, a tension laid over them. They didn’t speak about it because there was no need to. They resumed back to their normal selves, acting foolish around each other and spending every possible moment together.

When they were alone, however, it consumed them. Nayeon analyzed herself up and down, breaking herself into atoms, studying them, and putting herself back together again. Jeongyeon was nearly bursting at the seams. She needed to do something with all of these feelings that she had but had to use her instincts to guide her. The downfall was that instincts came suddenly and when presented with the issue. She couldn’t rely on instincts to make a plan when she didn’t know what she was planning.

Nayeon got better as time went on. Jeongyeon’s lifestyle bothered her less and her mind seemed to steady itself. She became comfortable in Jeongyeon’s apartment, clothes, car, and life. She was comfortable by Jeongyeon’s side. But fuck that siren that refused to leave her alone.

It sounded every time she decided that yes, she was going to kiss Jeongyeon now, or yes, she did love Jeongyeon, or yes, she did believe in fate.

“Can we talk,” Nayeon asked one afternoon, sitting across from Jeongyeon with Jeongyeon’s desk between them.

Because their offices were less than ten minutes from each other and they both had hour lunch breaks, it was easy for them to occasionally get together like this. It wasn’t the most peaceful and usually only occurred when they wanted to spend as much time together as possible before they resumed their workdays.

Jeongyeon nodded, eyes alert as she looked over at the woman and took a bite of the pizza they were sharing.

Her office was a decent size. Three walls, the floor, and her L-shaped desk were made of red mahogany while the wall that contained the door was made of opaque glass. Behind Nayeon, she could silhouettes of people moving down the hallway. There was a quiet hum of voices and footsteps in the background. Despite how busy she always was, the office was spotless and organized.

Nayeon cleared her throat and kept her eyes downcast, only looking up at Jeongyeon every so often, “well… I’ve been thinking about things… Us, you know… And I feel like… my issues with… being scared… come from my dad, right? Don’t you think?”

The black-haired woman was a bit taken aback- Nayeon never brought these things up- but nodded casually in agreement, treating it like just another conversation.

“Right, so,” she placed her slice of pizza back into the open box between them and wiped her hands off over the box, “I watched a video about this kind of stuff- don’t say a word- and it says to face it headfirst… obviously. So, in that case, this means either tracking down my dad or… just going for it with you… You know what I mean?”

Jeongyeon nodded while listening intently.

“Cause… We’re doing pretty well,” she knocked her knuckles against the wooden desk three times and Jeongyeon smiled in response, “and it took time. We eased into it, you know. So, we should keep doing that, right? I… am not interested in ever speaking to my dad again, so… that’s our option… right? Just… going for it like the video said.”

Jeongyeon nodded approvingly and without thought. When it came down to the nitty-gritty of it, all Jeongyeon knew was that she wanted Nayeon in every way. Apart from that, she was taking every day as they came, riding the waves that Nayeon sent her way. Every aspect of them was in Nayeon’s hands and Jeongyeon trusted her.

“I know that you’ve known this the entire time we’ve been seeing each other and I’m just talking out loud but,” Nayeon shrugged, feeling shy under the spotlight of Jeongyeon’s undivided attention, “because you live so similar to my dad, it’s hard for me to accept that you won’t just… go one day- decide you don’t need or want me anymore and just go. More than that, though… it’s scary for me that you’re so secure and content with yourself that you don’t really need me. I know you would let me go if you needed to.

“And I’m not saying that to make you feel bad or anything like I did in the beginning… I’m proud of you for that. Really. It’s just another thing I’m going to have to get used to but I’m okay with that. If anything, I’m lucky… I don’t know… I just wanted to tell you.”

Jeongyeon tossed the crust into the box and wiped her hands onto her napkin. She reached forward with one and looked at Nayeon’s, silently requesting the woman’s hand. When she held Nayeon’s fingers, she leaned forward with her elbows on the desk and brought their hands to her face. She laid Nayeon’s hand flat against her cheek and rested into it.

“You know how… someone goes from not drinking any coffee to drinking a little coffee to drinking four cups of coffee and then when they don’t have coffee for just one morning, they have headaches and their brain won’t wake up,” she asked, looking at Nayeon with a tilted gaze, her eyes shiny with admiration and fascination and fondness.

Nayeon nodded with a quiet hum.

“Well, it’s like that. They didn’t _need_ the coffee but they _wanted_ it so much that they _ended up_ needing it. That’s where I am with you,” Jeongyeon explained softly. “I know you worry about it and I’m not trying to invalidate that because I understand where you’re coming from… but you have a lot less to worry about than you think you do… just so you know, okay? I don’t want that to be something you’re scared of because it’s not happening. Not in a million years.”

How many ways could you tell someone that you were in love with them without ever telling them that you were in love with them?

Nayeon and Jeongyeon were setting records.

At this point, three and a half months in, they practically lived together. Nayeon had a drawer in Jeongyeon’s dresser and a decent fraction of closet space reserved for work clothes and pajamas. Their pocketbooks always sat beside each other on the corner of the granite countertop. Nayeon helped herself throughout Jeongyeon’s apartment, from getting a pair of socks from Jeongyeon’s sock drawer to leaving the bathroom door open while she peed to drinking or eating whatever she wanted whenever she wanted.

It had taken so much time for them to accomplish this much. They existed so nicely together. Whatever Jeongyeon lacked, Nayeon made up for and vice versa.

“Isn’t it a known fact that couples who get too attached to each other don’t last,” Nayeon asked, her back pressed against Jeongyeon’s front (as usual).

The pair were sitting in the therapist-style lounge chair in Jeongyeon’s living room. The piece of furniture was pressed longways against the floor-to-ceiling windows, giving them an open view of the city in the middle of the night. Nayeon sat between Jeongyeon’s legs and grasped a beer in one hand, Jeongyeon’s hand in the other.

“I think so,” Jeongyeon confirmed, “but it’s not like we have anyone else to get attached to.”

Apart from coworkers, neither woman had anyone that they contacted on a regular basis. Even their ties with their families were severed. Jeongyeon hadn’t had close friends since right out of college and Nayeon’s had dropped like flies as the years had passed.

“I think it only applies if you start ignoring everyone else for each other. Then you become too dependent on each other, it becomes toxic, and when you break up, you burned all your bridges, right,” Jeongyeon continued after a moment. “It’s a good thing we don’t have any bridges to burn,” she chuckled quietly and laid her head forward onto Nayeon’s shoulder.

A small smile played on Nayeon’s lips as her head fell back. She blinked her eyes closed and breathed in a deep breath, releasing it slowly.

“I guess not being able to get married and not having any family or friends goes hand in hand, huh,” she asked, the question a bitter joke.

In response, Jeongyeon wrapped her arms more tightly around Nayeon’s midsection while Nayeon continued to hold her hand. She craned her neck and placed a kiss against the woman’s bare shoulder, straps from the tight white tank top exposing a pleasing amount of skin.

“Kids,” Nayeon asked shortly.

The apartment was filled with dead silence between their words. Apart from a low glow of neon lights shining up and into the window, the apartment was completely dark. It was nearing two in the morning, so even a large fraction of the city below them had laid to rest.

“No,” Jeongyeon answered honestly. “Too old.”

“Agreed.”

“Location?”

They were both overwhelmed with love for each other, their feelings beginning to spill over the edge of themselves. They had been daydreaming together for hours now, wishing that they would have met earlier in life and under different circumstances and discussing what would have happened if that would have been the case.

Nayeon hummed quietly, “the outskirts of a smaller city. I really like Busan but maybe smaller. Have you ever been to Mokpo?”

Jeongyeon shook her head.

“We should go together sometime,” she suggested wishfully. “What about you? What’s your location?”

“Same,” she answered simply. “I’ll let you pick where, but yeah, definitely the outskirts of a smaller city. A house. Not an apartment.”

The thought of them really living together made Nayeon’s chest flutter in a way that she had begun to welcome. Every twist and turn that her insides did in reaction to Jeongyeon felt good. Instead of being scared of it, she had learned to crave it.

“Bed,” Nayeon asked when her body threatened to tense into a yawn.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Jeongyeon responded. Before her response finished spilling from her lips, Nayeon was already separating herself from her body.

Normally, they laid with Jeongyeon wrapped around Nayeon as they fell asleep to the soft light from below. It always reminded Nayeon of the way a hammock cocooned around the weight of a body. That night, Jeongyeon laid her head on Nayeon’s chest before the brunette had a chance to move onto her side. She laid her fingers on the woman’s bare shoulder and breathed slowly. Nayeon craned her neck to look at Jeongyeon, taken aback by the motion.

Jeongyeon’s lips were more pouted than normal and her eyes were already closed, eyebrows furrowed so slightly that Nayeon had to squint to make sure she was seeing things correctly.

Because this was Jeongyeon, it was alarming. Jeongyeon was positive and bubbly and would never request to be held so discreetly unless she really needed it. In three months, Jeongyeon had never asked to be held at all. She was Nayeon’s rock and Nayeon never believed for a second that things were the other way around.

“Are you okay,” she asked quietly, her skin burning at the mere thought of something being wrong.

Jeongyeon nodded in response, her eyebrows furrowing deeper. She dug the side of her foot into the mattress and pushed herself upwards on the bed, her head sliding off of Nayeon’s shoulder and up to the pillow so that they were sharing it. Her breath was soft on the skin under Nayeon’s ear.

“I’m great,” she whispered, a slight shake audible in her words. “I love you so much, Nayeon.”

Every single reaction that had been triggered by Jeongyeon hit Nayeon like a ton of bricks, multiplied by ten. Her skin immediately burned. Her heart twisted painfully in her chest and her ears became hot. Her throat went dry. Her stomach rolled. Her abdomen tightened. Her calf muscles contracted and her toes curled. She couldn’t breathe. She liked it.

And the alarm was still there, but only an annoying ring instead of a full-fledged blasting against her eardrums. Her own brain couldn’t even talk her out of this anymore. Jeongyeon was so much more important than any fear or stupid trauma or even herself. She wouldn’t give this woman up for anything. Nothing. Ever.

“I’m sorry,” Jeongyeon whispered in a tremble as her hand snaked up the nape of Nayeon’s neck and to the side of her face simply for the sake of being close. “I know we’re going at your pace. Don’t say it back.”

There was a rawness and pain in Jeongyeon’s voice that Nayeon had never heard before. Her own breathing was shaking the instant she remembered how to inhale. It was quick and unsteady. She was overwhelmed.

Not only had Jeongyeon made her feelings so obvious to Nayeon through her actions and never once faltered or slipped up, but Nayeon could _hear_ how much Jeongyeon meant what she said. She had been able to feel it for weeks now but hearing it confirmed every single positive thing and gave her so much reassurance; enough that it could have lasted a lifetime. Never had Nayeon been on the receiving end of this from another human.

Every worry dissolved in an instant and she stomped her heel into that _fucking alarm_ in her head. Why did she need it? Jeongyeon was never leaving her because Jeongyeon felt the same that she did and Nayeon would never even think about leaving Jeongyeon anymore. She knew that their daydreams of a life together would amount to something. Unlike previous relationships, this wasn’t _hope_ for love being mistaken for love.

This _was_ love and knowledge and security and faith in each other. This was perfect.

Fuck that alarm.

When Jeongyeon sniffled into her ear, she was instinctively pulled out of her brain. Her mind went empty and she turned her head to be met with the dim image of Jeongyeon attempting to hold back tears, a few having already escaped through the corners of her eyes. Everything she felt continued to intensify.

Her own hand came up to mirror Jeongyeon’s on her own cheek. She wiped the corner of Jeongyeon’s eye and pressed her forehead against Jeongyeon’s.

“Don’t cry,” she whispered, feeling a lump build in her throat at the scene unfolding. “Jeongyeon, don’t cry. I love you too. I love you so much too. Don’t be sorry. Don’t cry.”

She never thought that seeing Jeongyeon cry would be something she needed, but it only reassured Nayeon more, smashed the alarm into even more pieces, and made her feel so sure about this that she felt stupid for ever doubting it to begin with. Jeongyeon really, really, really loved her. This was real. This wasn’t going anywhere.

“I’m sorry for not saying it sooner,” she whispered. “I mean it. I love you too, Jeongyeon.”

In a split-second decision, she pointed her chin forward and met Jeongyeon’s lips in a harsh kiss. Their lungs came to a halt and the entire universe went silent and dark. The sun wasn’t burning on the other side of the earth and the moon wasn’t reflecting light above them. There were no stars. Out of seven billion people, there wasn’t a single one of them talking, laughing, snoring, or breathing for that matter. No cars. No electricity. No flowing water. _Nothing_.

And then every single thing exploded at one time.

The earth began to spin as fast as a basketball on the tip of a finger. The moon stopped reflecting the sun’s light and caught on fire from its heat. Every single person on the earth erupted into loud conversation. Every car honked its horn and revved its engine. Every volt of electricity began to flow. Every dam broke. _Everything_.

They _felt_ it and began to make up for that first kiss that they missed on their first date and every single kiss that should have followed afterwards. They began to make up for every wasted second and every doubt and every moment of hesitation.

Nayeon breathed heavily against Jeongyeon’s open mouth as she climbed to hover over the younger woman. Their eyes met as their worlds shifted into place. Although the simple gaze said so much, the only thing they understood was their mutual desperation for each other.

Less than a second later, they were kissing again.

Three months after their first kiss, six months together in total, fate decided to take a detour and confuse the hell out of them (but only momentarily). If the life they had begun built together was a curve on a graph, Jeongyeon assumed this was their lowest dip on the graph yet.

Nayeon had gotten a foreclosure notice the previous week. The events had forced her to come clean to Jeongyeon that she had been unable to make rent for the past two months. Her landlord had worked with her but could only do so much. Both women understood.

Jeongyeon had offered to help Nayeon catch up on rent but Nayeon was still so stubborn when it came to accepting any kind of help. Nayeon only kept repeating that she would figure it out, she would figure it out, she would figure it out. The younger woman had to accept the answer- she wasn’t going to push Nayeon to points she didn’t want to go- but made it very known that Nayeon was practically living with her already, so she had no problem putting Nayeon’s name on the lease and sealing the deal.

But now, Jeongyeon was sitting at her and Nayeon’s meeting spot after work as she did every other day. The only difference was her low-hanging head and the box of her office supplies and personal belongings sitting in her lap. Her mind was blank. Emotionally, her day had been more draining than she was used to and she was _exhausted_. She imagined that her poor posture and blank expression gave her away very easily.

Heels clicked all around her and dress shoes thudded. Five o’clock always marked a rush hour in this part of the city. Despite the constant bustle, she could identify the speed and pattern of Nayeon’s steps in an instant and turned her head upwards. When their eyes met, Nayeon’s steps slowed to a stop and the woman deflated a few feet away from Jeongyeon.

“No,” she stated, voice drenched in disbelief.

Jeongyeon pressed her lips into a thin line and gave an artificial smile, only nodding in response. She stood up, tucked the box under her arm, and propped it onto her hip.

“Yeah,” she sighed out.

The pair fell into synchronized steps. While Nayeon processed the fact that Jeongyeon was now unemployed, Jeongyeon was on autopilot. Her brain was so absent that she could barely register where her steps were taking her.

“Let’s get a taxi,” she suggested, pointing to the side of the road where two were already lined up in an attempt to lure in occupants. “I don’t feel like walking.”

“They got rid of ten of us in my department,” she explained later in the night, only bringing herself to speak after Nayeon had encouraged her to slam down beer after beer and glass of wine after glass of wine. “All the people who had been there for six years or more. Something about the city budget getting cut and downsizing and salaries. I don’t know. They already had my replacement ready so… fuck that place.”

Nayeon had been fairly quiet throughout the evening but had still been more talkative than Jeongyeon. She had already been dealing with her own stresses, comforted at the option of having Jeongyeon to turn to if need be. Now, even her security net had fallen through. She was stressed for the both of them.

“There’s a silver lining to this, babe,” Jeongyeon leaned forward on the couch and gripped Nayeon’s ankle, squeezing it momentarily. “I just don’t feel like figuring it out right now but I will eventually. Tomorrow. I’ll look for jobs too. I’ll figure out what good is supposed to come from this and find a new job tomorrow,” she summed up with a positive lilt in her words.

Nayeon saw the familiar optimistic grin on Jeongyeon’s lips and sucked in a deep breath, the view bringing her down from the storm clouds and placing her right back onto the couch. Jeongyeon retracted her hand from Nayeon’s ankle and sat back against the corner of the cushions, her legs drawn up on the furniture and knees against her chest.

“I really, genuinely, with every fiber of my being believe you should move in, Nayeon,” Jeongyeon repeated for the umpteenth time, the slight haziness from the alcohol making her unable to prevent the words. “I have a lot in my savings, so we don’t have to be worried yet. Just move in.”

Again, Nayeon didn’t respond with words immediately and instead shrugged with a forced grin. She could love Jeongyeon every second of every day, but this, just like other things in the past, was something she would have to get used to. It took time.

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” she began after Jeongyeon released a quiet sigh, “it’s just that… I don’t want to under these circumstances. I don’t want to move in because I have to, you know what I mean?”

The black-haired woman nodded before cocking her head to the side, pouting her lips. With her straightened hair brushing her shoulders, upper body covered in a grey turtleneck sweater, and legs clothed with black leggings, Nayeon couldn’t help but admire her for a moment. Even when things were so tense, she was taken aback by Jeongyeon.

“But… think about it,” Jeongyeon held up a finger and raised her eyebrows. “You wouldn’t really be doing it because you have to. You have other options, like living under a bridge or-”

Nayeon’s mouth fell agape and she scoffed, “that’s so mean.”

“Am I wrong,” Jeongyeon asked through a smile. She brought her elbow to the back of the couch and rested the side of her head against her hand. “Nayeon, do you know how… instinctive it is for me to want you here all the time? Is that the right word? I don’t care,” she waved her other hand dismissively. “I love you and I want you here. I’ve wanted you here ever since I sent you off in that cab on the first night. That’s half of a year! Come on. We already know that we’re spending the rest of our lives together. Why prolong what we know is going to happen?”

Still, Nayeon only stared back with an admiring glint in her eye and a small fond smile. Jeongyeon closed her eyes and groaned.

“I’m not good at convincing people when I’m drinking,” she whined before opening her eyes again and looking back at Nayeon. “Listen… Think about it… I’ll do your laundry. I’ll cook and clean for you. I’ll rub your feet. I’ll be at your beck and call for morning, afternoon, evening, night, _and_ middle of the night sex… Anything you want!”

Nayeon chucked quietly, completely head over heels for the woman in front of her. She had just been _fired_ from her job a few hours ago and was still optimistic over every aspect of her life. Anyone else would be seething and miserable.

“Middle of the night sex,” Nayeon raised an eyebrow and glanced off to the side, looking as if she were suddenly considering Jeongyeon’s proposition. “When you put it that way…”

When Nayeon entered the apartment the following evening, she was immediately met with loud pop music coming from the television, the sound of food sizzling in a pan, the smell of food that had been crafted by God themselves, and Jeongyeon bopping her head to the beat of the unfamiliar song with her hair in a ponytail and a white apron on over the same turtleneck from the night before.

“I figured it out,” Jeongyeon said before she turned her head towards Nayeon, eyes momentarily glued to her iPad as she read off instructions for the meal she was preparing. She held a wooden spoon up in one hand and licked something off of her thumb on the other.

Nayeon stood at the door with wide and concerned eyes, slowly kicking off her heels. Jeongyeon finally turned to her, smiling widely once she gave the woman a once over. She approached Nayeon, her fuzzy socks sliding along the tile floor instead of stepping.

“Hey,” she greeted her, dipping her head down to kiss Nayeon for a long second. She peeled the straps from the woman’s pocketbook from her grasp and took a step back, setting the item on a cleared spot of the counter. “I figured it out.”

“Figured out… what? How to get access to cocaine? Are you on drugs?”

“I wish,” Jeongyeon raised her spoon once again as she returned to the stove. “But no. I figured out what life is doing to us right now.”

Nayeon looked around at the mess of ingredients, cut vegetables, pots, pans, and utensils turning the area into a bright abstract painting, “I’m scared.”

“Well… I’ll tell you anyways… You know how fate brought us together and all that? How it was secretly working to get us together for our entire lives by doing little things that make sense now?”

The brunette stepped into the kitchen and relaxed her back against the edge of the counter, facing Jeongyeon as she crossed her arms over her chest. She didn’t respond but Jeongyeon knew she was listening.

“You’re getting kicked out of your apartment. I got kicked out of my job,” Jeongyeon glanced at her with a raised brow. “Fate is telling us to move into that medium-sized house on the outskirts of a smaller city.”

Nayeon quickly gave the woman an unimpressed and unconvinced look, pursing her lips, “Jeong.”

“Nayeon.”

“What the hell is that?!”

Jeongyeon quickly looked down at the floor where Nayeon’s finger was pointing in front of her. Her concerned eyes fell into neutral ones and she grinned with a shrug.

“Not only did I figure it out… I also adopted Bomb- he’s a boy- and reserved a pet-friendly Airbnb in Busan for one week and one in Mokpo for another. It was Mokpo, right? The place you suggested? I hope so.”

The older woman was completely taken aback by the sudden burst of events. Her eyes were wide as she raised both of her hands to the side of her head, staring down at the grey animal walking casually around her feet. He looked as if he owned the apartment.

She sucked in a deep breath before turning to Jeongyeon completely, “Jeongyeon, I can’t just take two weeks off of work. Just because we’re going through a bump in the road doesn’t mean we’re supposed to move away! You’re thinking too far into it. Why the hell did you get a cat?!”

“I’ll just go by myself then,” she concluded without hesitation, the comment alarming Nayeon slightly. “Because he needed a home and I have one.”

Nayeon took a single step over the cat and reached to place both of her hands on Jeongyeon’s shoulders. She turned the woman towards her and pulled her closer, taking a moment to stare into her eyes seriously.

“This is not fate,” she spoke with finality. “This is a shitty turn of events. So many other people get evicted and fired without it meaning that they have to move to the opposite side of the country. Why would we be any different?”

Jeongyeon’s lips pressed into a flat line, her nose exhaling a short breath, “we would be different because we _are_ different… I have a hard time believing it’s not fate when Busan Bank is looking for a lead financial analyst and Busan National University is looking for an admissions counselor. Those are _amazing_ jobs, Nayeon. Did you know your chances of being hired at universities go up when you’re alumni and… _you’re_ alumni?”

As usual, their arms were linked as they walked side by side. Their tennis shoes slapped the concrete of the sidewalk softly and their cold breaths blew in the air behind them. Jeongyeon’s chin was held high and she wore the tiniest hint of a smile. Nayeon, for the first time in forever, wore the same confident look.

Nayeon felt a slight tug on her arm and she followed Jeongyeon down a short set of stairs. Sand crunched under her shoe at the final step and they began to descend down to the vacant and small beach area. Waves lapped ever so slightly ahead of them, the lights of Busan behind them working as the perfect lamp for the setting.

They took a seat on the sand many yards away from the water. The air was already so cold so the mere thought of sea water made them shiver. Their arms separated and Nayeon welcomed herself against Jeongyeon’s side, immediately feeling one arm slung over her shoulders.

“So,” Jeongyeon asked simply, fishing for Nayeon’s thoughts without shame.

The brunette had always loved Busan. Despite the rough and miserable years that she spent in the city, something about it had always overpowered those events and made her feel constantly drawn to it. Even now, she knew exactly where her father’s home was and where he worked- knew he was less than twenty minutes away- and still felt so content with her surroundings.

Unlike Jeongyeon, Nayeon had a difficult time accepting things that were meant to be. They often came so unrealistically easy, so she always spent time convincing herself that, no, it was _not_ that simple when in reality, it was simply that simple.

When she had seen Jeongyeon, there was something in her that felt the same way. She had thought these same exact things. Even though her and Jeongyeon had a track record of two terrible events, she _needed_ to call out Jeongyeon’s name in that market. Look at them. Even though up and leaving Seoul and moving to a place she had terrible memories in was probably foolish, she _needed_ to be here.

She sucked in a deep breath, the cold air stinging her lungs, and leaned impossibly further into Jeongyeon, “not a house right now. Just an apartment.”

She could practically feel Jeongyeon’s face-eating grin.

“I think if we get called for interviews then… that’s just too coincidental… I think I might be scared if that happens…”

They had applied to the jobs the same night Nayeon had been convinced Jeongyeon was under the influence of drugs. Nayeon masked her applying for the job by claiming that she was only doing it to appease Jeongyeon. Secretly (although it was no secret at all because they both knew that Jeongyeon was aware of it), she had a spark of hope in her.

“Do you like it here,” she craned her neck as she asked Jeongyeon the question. “What if we don’t get called for interviews?”

Jeongyeon always looked at her like she was the purpose of everything good in the universe. Nayeon’s cheeks flushed every time. She found it hard to believe that she had ever been scared of _this_.

The black-haired woman shrugged, “I do like it here, yes. If we don’t get interviews… I think we should still come.”

For a moment, Nayeon wondered if Jeongyeon had came to that decision for Nayeon’s sake and not her own. She knew that Jeongyeon would always follow her wherever she went and that it was beyond obvious how comfortable Nayeon was in her own skin here compared to any part of Seoul. Jeongyeon had never expressed interest in Busan but was willing to answer Nayeon with such conviction. But _no_ , she shook the thought out of her head. Jeongyeon would go to great lengths for her, but not _that_ great.

She was wrong. Jeongyeon’s quick decision didn’t include thoughts of herself at all.

“We’ve only been together for six months,” Nayeon sighed out quietly. “It’s not too quick, is it?”

Jeongyeon shook her head shortly, “all we’re doing is moving in together. Most couples do that at six months.”

“We’re _moving_ together, though. Not just moving in with each other.”

She shrugged, “yeah, but I bet other people would do the same thing if they had nothing to leave behind like us. It’s not like we have friends or family in Seoul. We’re not moving away from anything except a place. It’s different.”

“You’re right.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Surprisingly, Nayeon wasn’t overthinking every single thing. They were quiet and comfortable and content and relaxed and happy.

“The only thing I’m genuinely concerned about,” Nayeon spoke calmly, “is if I run into my dad. I don’t know what would happen.”

Jeongyeon’s hand rubbed her bicep over her coat, “what would you _want_ to happen?”

She thought for a moment, pressing her lips together while she looked ahead at the water, “I’d want to keep walking.”

“Then what would happen is you would keep walking,” Jeongyeon replied simply. “If it happens… I think it’s about time that you got to do what you wanted, especially in terms of that relationship.”

Once again, Nayeon breathed in a painfully cold deep breath and breathed it back out, “I love you.”

Jeongyeon faked a gasp and Nayeon craned her neck to look up at her once again, the sound triggering the reaction.

“Nayeon, I- I didn’t know that you felt that way… I’m- I’m so sorry… I don’t- I’m not… _gay_ …”

The brunette smiled widely before laughing, her hand coming up to slap Jeongyeon’s shoulder roughly. Jeongyeon joined and chuckled quietly, her vacant hand catching Nayeon’s wrist in the air and pulling her close.

“I love you too,” she spoke through a smile, pecking Nayeon’s lips quickly, “this much,” she dropped Nayeon’s hand and stretched both arms out as far as they would go.

“No, this much,” her voice climbed in volume and she stood onto her feet, leaving Nayeon sitting on the sand to stare up at her with wide eyes. She kept her arms stretched out and side-shuffled a few feet away.

“This much,” she full-out screamed, arms extended while her legs launched into a sprint away from Nayeon.

Before she knew it, she felt Nayeon’s body press against her back and interrupt her sprint, the force nearly tackling her to the ground. A hand came over her mouth and she laughed against it, the air blowing raspberries against Nayeon’s palm. She heard the familiar chuckle close to her ear.

“Cancel the reservations at the Airbnb in Mokpo,” Nayeon mumbled. “Let’s just stay here.”

Only a few days later, on the same day, both women received calls asking to schedule interviews.

“I’m about to start my own fucking religion so we can start spreading some of this good luck to other people,” Nayeon threw her hands in the air while both of their laptops displayed emails confirming the times and dates of their interviews. “Things like this don’t just happen, Jeongyeon!”

Jeongyeon could only smile back at her, cradling Bomb in her arms like a child.

“Jeongyeon,” Nayeon stepped in front of her, “think about it. The apple orchard. The Christmas party. The market. Our personalities. The things that made us this way. The eviction. You getting fired… Jeongyeon! This isn’t normal.”

“Let me pull a you,” the younger woman spoke through a smile. “We might not get the jobs,” she whispered jokingly.

Nayeon’s excited face turned into disgust in a split second, “God, am I _that_ annoying?”

Jeongyeon officially started working at Busan Bank seven weeks later. Nayeon officially started working at Busan National University less than a week after that.

Although the setting was new to Jeongyeon and everything had changed in what felt like a snap, they had fallen into their same comfortable routine even faster. Jeongyeon donated half of her clothes and followed a moving truck to their new apartment just ten minutes outside of Busan with Nayeon in the passenger seat.

Apart from clothes and furniture, Jeongyeon didn’t have very many belongings and Nayeon had even less than that, so they were able to easily design the layout of their smaller, one-bedroom, one-bath apartment. Nayeon kept her side of the bed that overlooked the city while Jeongyeon kept her side of the bed closest to the door. Considering how close together they slept in the middle of the bed, the distinctions weren’t really necessary anymore.

Nayeon waited for Jeongyeon on the corner of a street two blocks away from both of their jobs. They walked back from work together, arms linked, while Jeongyeon listen to Nayeon gush about every detail of her day. It was their new routine.

“Hey,” Nayeon looked across the coffee table at Jeongyeon who was staring intently at her own Battleship board like the shadows of Nayeon’s ships would appear if she glared hard enough.

“Hey,” Jeongyeon responded, her furrowed brows loosening a bit. She glanced up and their eyes met.

Nayeon slid her Battleship board to the side with one hand and laid her forearms flat on the coffee table, propping her chin on the backs of her flattened hands. Her legs were crossed on the carpet floor. She smiled over at Jeongyeon, feeling absolute bliss for no solid reason. She didn’t need a reason.

The black-haired woman raised an eyebrow and slid her board to the side as well, seemingly forgetting how focused she had been only a few seconds prior.

“Our story would make a good book, I think,” she let her head fall to the side. “Don’t you think?”

Jeongyeon let out a single airy laugh and her smile grew as she looked over at Nayeon, seeing nothing but love in the shape of a woman in front of her, “it’d be kind of boring, wouldn’t it? Nothing has really happened.”

“I’d read it,” Nayeon declared, “but I wouldn’t be able to have a favorite part.”

Sometimes, Nayeon reflects back on the reactions she felt and got in a frenzy over before they had even kissed. When Jeongyeon would look at her the way she was looking at her now- a shine in her smiling eyes, her heart would skip a beat or her chest would constrict.

What a wuss she had been… because this- feeling the entire world, including herself, catch fire because of one woman, one person, Jeongyeon- was so much stronger than it had been in their earlier months. Something she had been scared of before, she would never be able to live without now.

“What would you name it,” Jeongyeon asked smoothly.

“Hm,” she hummed, pouting her lips. “I don’t know. Something about fate.”

“‘Something About Fate,’” Jeongyeon teased by repeating the phrase with a distasteful tone and a hiss. Her face drew up, “I don’t know… You could do better.”

“It doesn’t get better than you,” Nayeon teased back, a disgustingly sweet tone accenting her words.

**Author's Note:**

> hi! I hope you enjoyed! pls let me know how you feel by leaving comments or kudos :)


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